Posted by Adrian Litvinoff on Apr 24, 2012
Herbie Hancock is now a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations. I didn’t realise this until I learned just recently that he has managed to persuade UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) to inaugurate International Jazz Day to celebrate jazz as a world-wide medium of creativity and freedom “because so many countries have been affected in crucial ways over the years by the presence of jazz.” April 30th is the day, coming at the end of Jazz Appreciation Month in the US. If this sounds a bit ‘worthy’ it reminds us rightly about a really serious facet of our music. In both Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia Jazz was proscribed – criminalised and forbidden. In many other countries it has been a musical form that helped oppressed groups and individuals to maintain their spirit of independence and hope, including in the US itself. And while currently right wing views seem to be enjoying a resurgence, not least in parts of northern Europe, many of those countries formerly showed a warm welcome to black musicians who found little respect or opportunity in their country of birth. So while there is a chance that International Jazz Day may go the way of Mick Jagger’s once-vaunted National Music Day (remember that?) I for one welcome it. I am also flattered that Baker Street Jazz in Swindon have dedicated Interplay’s gig there on May 1st to International Jazz Day. We’ll be pulling out some of our global grooves in honour of the occasion – please join us if you...
See MorePosted by Adrian Litvinoff on Mar 8, 2012
It’s almost four months since Interplay last played to a real live audience! Sign of the times I guess, with gigs becoming noticeably scarcer all around. So it is with real pleasure as well as a certain amount of relief that we announce our first appearance of 2012, next Wednesday March 14th in Leamington Spa for Leam Jazz. Besides affording us the pleasure of playing for its own sake I take a special pride in this particular gig as indirectly I can claim some responsibility for Leam Jazz getting started. The moving spirits, Stewart Duthie and John Hodgetts, originally met as members of my Jazz Workshop in 2008. Since then they have arranged vacation sessions for workshop participants, organised public jam sessions and, ably assisted by audio wiz Rob Sargent, presented some exciting and enjoyable jazz gigs over the last two years. Interplay was actually the first band Leam Jazz put on, back in May 2010, and it’s a true credit to them and their supporters that they are still at it two years later. So come along to Leamington Rugby Club, Kenilworth Road Leamington CV32 6RG on Wednesday 14th March. Tickets are only £6 and there is excellent beer to be found at club prices. bLA BLA...
See MorePosted by Adrian Litvinoff on Dec 31, 2011
I’m indebted to Interplay drummer Dave Balen for sharing this with me, and I want to pass it on. Many people agree that Victor Wooten is one of the greatest bass guitarists ever – that title seems to undervalue both the instrument and its contribution to music in general and in his hands particularly – nevertheless it’s his preferred term. In this book Victor sets out to describe a transformation in his musical approach and understanding that has made him the creative artist he is today. He offers his discoveries with disarming modesty and self-deprecating humour recounted in a readable and economic style that makes for genuine entertainment. Nevertheless without it becoming pretentious the message is substantial and all-embracing as the narrator (Victor) encounters the synergies between Music (capital ‘M’) and Life (capital ‘L’). There is a quasi-mystical aspect to the book that some may find hard to accept. The teacher and his associates appear to live a mysterious and non-material life that nonetheless renders them exactly at the right place and time to interact with Victor in extraordinary ways. Those of us who remember Carlos Castaneda’s account of his experiences with Don Juan, the Yaqui Shaman in the Mexican desert, will appreciate Tony Levin’s reference on the book cover. However that was in the 1960’s, and Wooten’s narrative is far more inclusive and benign, and free of dependence on mind-altering substances. I don’t need to resolve whether his narrative is true or a device – either way it’s a leap of imagination. What I take from the book is what it says about music (and Music), musicianship and creativity. The routines and rules we lay down for ourselves and adopt from others are capable of becoming the bars of a musical cage. The criticism we give ourselves and the goals we set can be the same. Victor Wooten started playing at two years old by his own account, and as he grew up he became more distant from his instinctual musicality. At the start of the book he describes himself as a struggling bassist, not getting enough work, worried about paying his rent, and anxious about his standing in the musical marketplace. I suspect many of us can relate to this. Victor’s journey as retold here is one of re-connecting himself with the innate knowledge of Music that engaged him and drew him on as a child –...
See MorePosted by Adrian Litvinoff on May 20, 2011
After months of preparation Interplay is taking to the road next week for a few dates far from home. We are bound for Sheffield and Manchester next week and then Bath the week after. Full details are of course available here. If you live anywhere nearby then come on down. And if you’ve got friends or family within reach, please pass the word...
See MorePosted by Adrian Litvinoff on Mar 27, 2011
‘I went down to the demonstration…’ (March for the Alternative, London, 26th March) but instead of abuse I was delighted to find myself in the company of Tony Haynes and members of the very wonderful Grand Union Orchestra. Imagine busking in the street with such luminaries as Claude Deppa, Chris Biscoe, Byron Wallen and Louise Elliott and you will appreciate my excitement! If you haven’t had the pleasure, Grand Union is a magnificent assemblage of jazz and world musicians – literally from all over the globe. Under the creative leadership of Tony Haynes the Orchestra performs concerts and music theatre of astonishing cross-cultural richness and ingenuity. Over 30 years Tony has investigated and engaged with many cultural traditions, producing original works on themes as diverse as the enslavement of African people in the New World, to the history of the Silk Road. The Orchestra has also delivered ambitious and memorable participative community and education projects that draw directly on the musical practice of the Orchestra and its musicians. Tony and I first met circa 1984 when as Director of an Arts Centre in Oxford I was keen to encourage music improvisation among schools in the area. I remember going to see the Orchestra performing in a Sports Hall and being blown away by the diversity, audacity and vitality of the music. I was not alone, as the hundreds of students responded alike. Over the next few years we worked together extensively in Oxfordshire and Warwickshire schools, youth organisations and with local musicians including jazz and rock, Bhangra and orchestral players. The finale ‘If Music Could’ involved 200 young people and adults and subsequently went on to be developed in two other Grand Union residencies. I have learned a massive amount from Tony and the other musicians about how new music can be inclusive so as to reflect and respect different cultural and musical traditions. They also enact the sheer power of music to engage people in participation who may not have had the opportunity to undergo the formalities of conventional training. And that brings us back to the march and the reasons for being there. Masses of arts educational activity is going to disappear in the coming months and years as a result of current government policies, including outreach projects by organisations like Grand Union. In the scale of all the hardships that people will experience this may not...
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